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Estus H. Magoon Collection: Finding Aid

Overview
Title:	Estus H. Magoon Collection, 1925-1954
Collection No:	CHC0126
Volume:	3.50 linear ft. (9 boxes)
Repository:	Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries
Location:	34E5
Abstract:	The Estus H. Magoon Collection contains reports and photographs of Estus H. Magoon, a civil engineer who worked on various public health projects in Latin America and the Caribbean from 1925 to1954.

Administrative Information
Acquisition Information:	Part of this collection was received as a gift in 1984. Photographs were purchased from David Holloway in 1989.
Processed by:	Esperanza B. de Varona, 1992. Updated by María R. Estorino, 2003.
Encoded by:	Giselle Fernández, 2003
Access Restrictions:	This collection is unrestricted.
Preferred Citation:	Estus H. Magoon Collection, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, Florida
Copyright Statement:	© 2003 University of Miami. All rights reserved. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Director of the Cuban Heritage Collection.

Biographical Note

Estus H. Magoon (1892-1974) was a civil engineer with a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University (1913) who worked for the Rockefeller Foundation’s International Health Division from 1919 to 1957, designing and building sewer systems, water supply plants, and other sanitation and plumbing projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Magoon kept detailed reports and statements of his projects between 1925 and 1954. Furthermore, he kept diaries for the Rockefeller Foundation between 1935 and 1951. The diaries contain specific descriptions of the projects in which he worked on during this period and some descriptions of his personal life and the countries in which he worked.

Magoon spent much of his time working in Cuba, Nicaragua and Panama. He established his office in Havana from 1935 to 1947. He worked in numerous cities in Cuba, including Camaguey, Marianao, Varadero and Bayamo, and describes in detail the projects he worked on in each city. Among the many projects were building water plants, properly disposing of waste and refuse, and the malaria problem in the Caribbean region.

On August 1, 1947 Magoon moved his office to Miami and bought a home in Coral Gables. However, he continued to work on health and sanitation projects throughout Latin America and the Caribbean through 1954. Estus H. Magoon died in 1974. His wife, Vashti L. Magoon, established a trust fund at Purdue University that supports an award for outstanding teaching assistants in engineering, the Estus H. and Vashti L. Magoon Award. She passed away in 1986.

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains reports and photographs of Estus H. Magoon, a civil engineer who worked on various public health projects in Latin America and the Caribbean during the period of 1925 to1954. In this collection are included notes on drainage engineering projects in Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, etc. It also includes over 1800 photographs of Latin American and Caribbean subjects. About 70% of the photographs measure 4 1/2" by 2 1/2". Most of the photographs are of a technical nature showing construction sites and processes, but many views showing living conditions are included as well. The bulk of the photographs are from Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia and Jamaica. The documents on drainage engineering projects were received as a gift in 1984. The photographs were purchased from David Holloway, a bookseller in South Miami, in 1989.

Container List

Series I. Magoon Papers

Box	Item	Folder Title
1	1	Candler College (Havana, Cuba): Graduation Program
	2	Central America: Summary of Operations/Informal Reports, 1925-29
	3	Colombia: Plano de Chorrera, 1936
	4	Correspondence
	5	Costa Rica: San José: Memoria de la Labor Municipalidad, 1934-36
	6	Diaries, 1935
	7	1936
	8	1937
	9	1938
	10	1939
	11	1940
	12	1941
	13	1942
	14	1943
	15	1944
	16	1945
	17	1946
2	1	1947
	2	1948
	3-4	1949
	5	1950
	6	1951
	7	Dominican Republic: Constanza Report
	8	Financial Records, 1942-1954
	9	International Health Division: Antigua, Guatemala
	10	Barbados
	11	British Guiana
	12	British Honduras
	13	Caribbean Region
	14	Cayman Islands
	15	Central America
	16	Colombia
	17	Costa Rica
	18	Cuba
	19	Dominica
	20	Dominican Republic
	21	Dutch Guiana
	22	Grenada
	23	Guatemala
	24	Haiti
	25	Honduras
	26	Jamaica
	27	Leeward and Windward Islands
	28	Montserrat
	29	Nevis
	30	Nicaragua
	31	Panamá
	32	Puerto Rico
	33	St. Kitts
	34	St. Lucia
	35	St. Vincent
	36	Salvador
	37	Trinidad
	38	Tobago
	39	Venezuela
	40	Virgin Islands
	41	Newsletter: Engineering and Sanitation Section
	42	Nicaragua: Managua: Ground Waters of City Report
	43	Reports: Annual, 1932-1954
3	1	Annual and Quarterly, 1930
	2	Quarterly and Semester, 1932-1946
	3	Summary, 1942
	4	Rockefeller Foundation: News Release
	5	St. Thomas, St. Croix: Reports of Measures to Control the Breeding of Anophele
	6	Sanitary and Plumbing Equipment: Bid Slips

Series ll. Photographs and Negatives
Box	Item	Folder Title
4	1	Unidentified Material: Seven 8" X 10" Photographs
5	1	Antigua
	2	Barbados
	3-18	Brazil: General
	19-21	Guapy River
	22-26	Itamby
	27-31	Langes River
	32	Mage
	33-35	Manquinas
	36-39	Petropolis
	40-48	Rio de Janeiro
	49-51	Santa Ana
	52	Serra
	53	Serrat Mountain
	54-55	Therezopolis
	56-84	British Honduras: General
	85	Agua Fria
	86-98	Amapala
	99-103	Belize
	104-105	Belize River
	106	Benque
	107	El Cayo
	108-109	Corozal
	110	New River
	111-112	Puerto Castilla
	113-116	Puerto Cortez
	117	Punta Gorda
	118-119	San Antonio
	120-121	Seine Bight

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